Delphi Songs, for soprano, prepared piano, harp and singing bowls (2016) by Meta Cohen published on 2016-03-03T02:48:08Z https://metacohen.com/delphi-songs Delphi Songs was premiered at the Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music. A collection of musical and theatrical episodes, the piece came about after stumbling upon the last recorded words of the last Oracle of Delphi. I was struck by the self-awareness in the words - in an image of absolute decline, the Oracle clearly foresaw its own ending. In the ancient world, Plutarch called the Oracles obsolete, and today’s scientists regularly speculate whether the Pythia (priestesses) were intoxicated by gas formations in the rocks. Both ancient and modern perspectives recognise this sense of the sacred becoming mortal. Delphi Songs is an anthology of four episodes, each exploring this through different perspectives. It uses texts from 480 BC to 2015. -- COMPOSER AND CURATOR / Meta Cohen TEXT / S.J. Bryson (2015), W.B. Yeats (1908), Prophecies spoken by the Oracle of Delphi (pre-Apolline period, 480 BC and 395 AD), Meta Cohen (2015) PERFORMERS / Claire Burrell-McDonald, Josephine Gibson, Rowan Phemister I commissioned the fabulous 1nfiltratrix for the cover art - please check out their work! (1nfiltratrix.tumblr.com) Contains tracks I. The Departure and II. Two Prophecies by Meta Cohen published on 2016-03-03T02:23:25Z III. Holy Places Falling by Meta Cohen published on 2016-03-03T02:35:15Z IV. It is Finished by Meta Cohen published on 2016-03-03T02:47:44Z